Ildjarn Split was written by Nidhogg

Arvo Pärt is astonishing and untoucheable. iLDjARN introduced me to his music. He was very much into ECMs music, where I believe some or much of Pärts music is released. Also Phillip Glass is to be mentioned alongside him, in form, but not nearly as good in my opinion. I myself also very much like the music of Michael Nyman, made for the Peter Greenaway films. Have you seen "The cook, the thief the wife and her lover"? Together with the music it's a decadent masterpiece. But Pärt? Unbelieveable. Like this first sound here, piercing your heart....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-J8LNcZgTA

Yes! Tabula Rasa exposes my favorite side of AP. The whole release with four pieces in 1984, but of course specially the "title track". Philip Glass, I don't really like. He is pretty stale most of the time, for me. He lacks that "spiritual" character that fills the best music, IMO. But I am just ranting here. AP describes his own music as "religious", and it is easy to see why.

I think this character is what distinguishes JS Bach from most other Baroque composers like Handel (the banal) or the Corelli school (very nice music, very technical) even when they are composing FOR religious purposes. Not to give the wrong impression, I actually really enjoy music by the Corelli and his students (eg Vivaldi, Locatelli). Maybe it has to do with a more pure dedication to the music itself? JS Bach saw his music as a way of expressing the divine. He was ABOUT the music. The others' lives were about career, fame, glamour. I guess those are the traps of the "Art world".

I haven't watched "The cook, the thief the wife and her lover", but I will look it up. As well as Michael Nyman's music. Thank you for the recommendations.

Hate to derail the thread, but just out of curiosity, what do you consider to be shortcomings of Glass? His Company suite has always floored me, I feel much from it. I will definitely check out Part's music if it is a better take on the style.

Hate to derail the thread, but just out of curiosity, what do you consider to be shortcomings of Glass? His Company suite has always floored me, I feel much from it. I will definitely check out Part's music if it is a better take on the style.

No, I expressed myself a bit wrong. I absolutely love his works, so it was just in comparison to some others that may be even greater. But he absolutely reaches up.

Hate to derail the thread, but just out of curiosity, what do you consider to be shortcomings of Glass? His Company suite has always floored me, I feel much from it. I will definitely check out Part's music if it is a better take on the style.

For me, in general, he leaves to much to the imagination. He is content with just repeating a melody without the slightest hint of variation of any kind (Edit 1: this is, of course, incorrect. It has some variation, and sooome development.). Maybe it is a performer's fault as well, but I find it hard to believe that classical musicians will just play his (piano, specially) works in such a flat way because they want to. It must be his direction that his pieces sound so flat and uneventful. He may like to evocate something through them and thus he names them creatively but the music itself is too simple. Maybe the only variation introduced is by the performer's hand, trying to provide some little dynamics to the extremely repetitive pieces Mr Glass produces.Even simple things needs some kind of complexity, IMO. It is how some things are used in context. Sometimes it is the speed at which certain things are played that add the complexity to the idea. Sometimes it is the chord progression itself with the rhythm which provide this complexity. No two elements in music are really independent. I think here is where Philip Glass fails for me: his often extremely simple melodies lack are set in a flat and simple background, repeating ad nauseam.

This is a little it unfair since I actually like Goatcraft's project. Maybe I am just placing Glass under the classical composer's banner so I expect something else from him. I expect the depth of thought and development that Arvo Part's music contains. Then again, even Goatcraft's music produces more development and variation. Please go listen to The Blasphemer! Goatcraft's (violent) debut is also more entertaining and full of content than Glass' piano music. I must admit, though, that the only full piano release by Glass that I've actively listened to is Metamorphosis. I got through it mostly out of duty, because I could not be more bored with the pieces repeating the same ... 8 or 10 bars for 10 times and calling it a day!

Objectively speaking, some songs are not as bad as I remembered them. Metamorphosis 4 is slightly more worked than the other ones before it. There are some worthwhile bits after that too. But for songs being 10 minutes long, they are TOO repetitive. Goatcraft repeats shit 4 times as if he were doing Metal.

I will re-listen to his other works to get a new perspective of his music, though right now I maintain my general opinion on him.

Edit 1:I recently came into my knowledge that the best of Glass' music are not in his early works which are like background music, but rather in his mid-late works such as Symphonies 4 and 5 (i did not know he had written symphonies) as they are not as repetitive.PS. I keep mentioning Goatcraft because I think Philip Glass ' music approaches this more than Arvo Part's style. The only thing shared with Part is the tendency for simple arrangements (Listen to Glass' Mad Rush). But that's like saying that Ildjarn's metal stuff is similar to John Mayer because they are both simple. Arvo Part's music twists around and extends forward instead of using a lot of repetition.

In the other direction I experimented in, I do have a song at hand, I just have to get the gear up and running and I'll post it on YouTube. This does neither reflect an aspect of norwegian nature, and therefore neither under the NiDHOGG name. Trying to describe it, I figure Psychedelic Necro Ompa would suffice, to give an idea of the sound. Labeling/not labeling, I don't care. There is energy to it like me and iLDjARN's metal stuff and some trippy shit going on. The picture I attached also should give you an idea of the sound, I think I had two songs ready for a limited 7", but one day I lost the A-side down the "equipment failure-drain", so to speak. The intended B-side I have, tough.